WillaKenzie History

After a successful career in high tech, Bernard Lacroute decided that growing Pinot Noir in Oregon would be a satisfying way to return to his Burgundian roots. A Wine Spectator ad for land, (thankfully, they are not in the vineyard land rating business or the 95+ points would surely have doubled the price!) led to the purchase of a 420-acre cattle ranch in Yamhill, Oregon in January 1991.

In 1992, the first vineyards were planted on south facing slopes replacing pasture, blackberries and poison oak. A brand new multi-level gravity flow winery was completed in 1995. Today over 100 acres of vines, which are painstakingly arranged around untouched stands of native Douglas fir and majestic maple, grace the WillaKenzie soil after which the winery is named.